Improvement in flooring-boards



UNITED STATES SAMUEL A. REED, OF WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

IMPROVEMENT IN FLOORING-BOARDS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 168,672, dated October 11, 1875 application filed March 29, 1875.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, SAMUEL A. REED, of Washington in the county of Washington and District of Columbia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Flooring-Boards; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, which will enable others skilled in the art to which it pertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

The object of my invention is to produce a flooring-board which will not warp or curve upward from the sleepers or joists upon which it is laid and it consists in cutting one or more longitudinal kerfs or slits in the under side of such a board, and through about onehalf or two-thirds of the thickness of the board.

In the drawing, Figure 1 is an end view of a section of flooring, the boards composing which are provided with kerfs or slits according to my invention. Fig. 2 is an isometric perspective View of myimproved flooring-board bottom upward.

A A are flooring-boards, laid upon a sleeper or joist, B, and having kerfs or slits a a cut in their under sides from end to end, and extending through about one-half the thickness of each board.

In two, three, and even four inch boards I usually cut one kerf of a depth proportionate to the thickness of the board, as will be hereafter explained; but when the width of the board exceeds four inches I cut two or more kerfs equally distant from each other and the edges of the board, as shown at 00 a in the board A Fig. 1.

In referring to the depth of the kerf heretofore I have contemplated the ordinary flooring-board about nine-tenths of an inch thick; but should the thickness of the board exceed this I out the kerf to within about half an inch of the top of the board, as I find that to be generally the most efficacious depth.

The unsightly appearance and destructive effect upon carpets and other floor-coverings of a floor in which the boards are warped are well known. I have found by experiment that to prevent this warping and secure a smooth floor it is only necessary to cut in the under side of each flooring-board one or more kerfs or slits, as heretofore explained.

Having now described my invention,1 claim as a new article of manufacture- A fiooring board having one or more longitudinal kerfs or slits cut in the uuderside there n testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own invention I affix hereto my signature in presence of two witnesses.

SAML. A. REED.

E. w. B. PHILLIPS- 

